Regardless of law, New Hampshire not ready to enforce death penalty

As their counterparts across the country grapple with questions raised after a failed execution attempt in Oklahoma, New Hampshire prison officials are beginning to look at how the death penalty would be carried out here.

“We don’t have a procedure to follow, a time line for how one would play out,” said Jeff Lyons, spokesman for the New Hampshire Department of Corrections. “I know we’ve visited some states already to see how they handle them, but it will be new territory for us, since we haven’t had one here since 1939.”

With just one prisoner, Michael Addison, awaiting execution in New Hampshire and a lengthy appeals process ahead, Lyons said state officials have only recently begun to look at crafting best practices for the procedure.

Addison was sentenced to death in 2008 for gunning down Manchester police Officer Michael Briggs. If his Addison would become the first convict executed in New Hampshire since 1939.